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Testing and validating your message vs. losing your brand’s identity

Before I had kids I actually read Infinite Jest, a book is so long and dense, it’s the subject of jokes about people who only play music on records and hand-grind coffee.

In my defence, I remember almost nothing except this one scene:

The narrator as a kid eats toxic mould and on the discovery, his mother just runs around in circles in the backyard in hysterics, holding aloft the mould.

I am that mom. My entire experience having children is that suddenly, there’s too much risk in the world.

But it’s the same for brand owners.

Brands can be too risk-averse – and it hurts every aspect of their advertising

And I get it.

The big brands we see are so safe. Putting something polarizing out there… What if people don’t like it?

Here’s the thing. Some people 100% will either not like it or not get it. You know how the rest of this argument goes if you’ve read anything about niching or the power of point of view.

But, it gets tricky when we move into testing and validation.

Which, as good conversion copywriters, we should be helping our clients to do.

This is sometimes like letting our kids ask every other kid in their class what they really think of them.

Noooo, please do not do that!!!

It only really matters what a select few think. As a brand owner or manager, you should never be hostage to any and all user feedback. (Just because they clicked on your ad or bought from you once? That doesn’t mean their opinion should hold weight.)

Why we need to take data and testing with a grain of salt

Suzie talked about the tension between really listening and filtering out what’s actually just noise.

Because it’s one thing to be tuned into voice-of-customer and to be all about testing. And it’s another to be so influenced by data that you forget the core of your brand.

Your brand is the value you deliver for a very specific buyer.

For Suzie, that means it doesn’t really matter if the data shows middle-aged men are clamouring for meat-flavoured snack bars. That’s not her bag. She’s spent enough time talking face-to-face with her ideal buyer to know that some trends aren’t relevant to her target audience.

We can even ignore feedback from those in your perfect demographic (or industry if you’re B2B) who aren’t at the right stage of awareness.

Like my parents, who actually do run a business and at important networking events introduce me like this:

“This is our sweetie and she’s just the best-est writer!!” (Love you guys!)

They’re not aware of conversion rate optimization. And that’s cool – it’s also why I don’t ask them what they think of my website, though. Or write marketing collateral for other business owners who just ‘need a wordsmith’ and think conversion copywriting is too expensive.

(And feedback that it’s “too expensive”? Don’t change your price quite yet. Chances are, they either don’t see a point of difference or they’re not the right buyer.)

So, yes, ASK. Ask away. But remember that not everyone’s opinion has a place in your testing and validation.

If you’re a start-up, focus on a core group of influencers

“Start-ups should deploy a craft brand strategy. To stand out, you must be utterly different to a core group of trend influencers who are frustrated with the major competitors. You must be willing to take a “high risk/high reward” strategy. It is O.K. if your brand alienates those who are not yet ready to take on something new. Playing it too safe will lead to your destruction. Do not worry about the mass audience, and avoid trying to be too big, too fast.” (p. 61)

Influencer strategy aside, what Robertson is saying is that you can only cut through the noise if you’re markedly different.

And the way to do that is to speak to a very specific audience’s unmet needs.

For copy that converts, tighten your target market

Again, turning to Beloved Brands, Robertson says, “There is a myth that a bigger target will make a brand bigger, so the scared marketer targets “everyone”… Spreading your limited resources across an entire population is completely cost-prohibitive… This fear of missing out (FOMO) gives your brand a lower return on investment and eventually will drain your brand’s limited resources.” (p. 77)

Graham explains how to divide up the market to identify the most motivated possible audience, using three categories of segmentation:

Consumer profiling: demographics, socio-economic, geographic/channels, current or new customers

And because I know this worries a lot of brand managers, we’ll get more granular about what it really means to zero in on a target.

How big is your actual target market?

When I’m like Hal’s mom, running around in circles figuratively, it helps to put the risk in the context of the numbers.

In this case, what is the actual size of your target market? Chances are, even if it’s niche, it’s enormous.

Let’s quickly work through this to show how profitable it can be to focus your marketing on a narrower audience.

For example, say you’re selling a healthy packaged food to American women. Or a meal kit delivery, or a nutrition-related course.

Now, we know age and gender don’t entirely determine purchasing behavior, but it’s a starting place. (Especially since your ad targeting, creative direction and other choices often force you into thinking this way.)

Unless you’re P&G, that market is too big. And we know that trying to connect with too large an audience only dilutes the effectiveness of the message. You simply can’t be specific enough in your copywriting and visual creative with an audience that large.

Now we’re getting into consumer behavior and psychographic data… And it looks like the 25 – 34 demographic has the highest potential. That’s about 20 million women.

But your product isn’t cheap and is best suited to women facing time pressures – working women. So, let’s narrow further to the top 25% of income earners. That’s still about 5 million prospective customers. Even if 1% of those bought $100 worth of product from you a year, you’d generate $5M from that demographic alone.

Being exclusive – and inclusive – in finding your target market

By slicing the market that way, we can do more interesting things with copywriting. We can talk to a very specific audience and:

Empathize with their very specific lives

Point to specific life goals

Show and write about the things that interest them

Reflect their likely values and attitudes

Counter their specific objections

Show proofs of authority that matter to them

Make offers in the ways they prefer to buy

And specifics like these sell – or convert, as we like to say.

But as Robertson says, by being focused on a target, we don’t overtly exclude those outside the target. People outside of that bracket will still resonate with your brand and buy.

Which is a loaded topic…

Because there is a rising awareness of inclusiveness in marketing. And so while certain creative and advertising decisions may force you to zero in on an age group, gender, socio-economic position… I’d color outside of those demographic lines deliberately.

Here’s why and how.

The demographics only bring you closer to the psychographics

Starting with demographics is, well, a starting place. It reassures us, as I’ve said, that we can go narrow.

But once you start to understand that audience, it makes more sense today to build the brand, the creative and write the copy to the psychographics and behaviors.

And then be inclusive in the representations of people who mirror your buyer. Chances are, they could be younger, older, any gender, orientation, skin colour.

This is difficult because first, we have to make assumptions about the buyer. And then we have to question those assumptions.

It can be harder to find, validate and test advertising based on psychographics and behavior vs. demographics.

Instead of just dropping the age range into the targeting of a Facebook ad, you have to think about their interests, where they hang out, what else they might buy.

Instead of targeting a group on LinkedIn based on their job title or industry, you have to question whether they’re in the frame of mind to choose your solution.

Instead of taking feedback from everyone on your list, you have to consider which of those are really ideal and not accidental customers.

Otherwise, the results are skewed. Testing and validation only matter if you can get feedback from that ideal buyer, with the right awareness and intent.

That’s where qualitative research becomes so valuable to offset quantitative. Interviewing and surveying real people can often tell you more of value than clicks.

Being niche is competitive. Being cluttered is not.

As brand owners, almost all of us can take more risks by being more niche. More personal. More relevant. More specific.

Robertson uses examples of Five Guys Burgers and Dollar Shave as “craft brands”. Both went in the opposite direction of the mainstream… and the rest is history valued in the billions.

In short: Your target audience can develop a tighter bond with your niche brand than they can with mass-market brands. Because they see themselves in you.

So, the risk that we’ll be too polarizing is really in our minds.

The real risk?

On the other end of the spectrum are what Robertson calls “cluttered brands”.

“They get stuck in the cluttered mess of the market, without a defined target market or a defined point of difference. Consumers cannot describe them, and worse, the brands cannot express themselves. These brands lack a loyal base of customers and are unable to generate any positive growth or price premiums. They end up as an indifferent commodity, disconnected from consumer needs…” (and he goes on to paint the picture of total brand decay – see page 63)

You might be wondering…

Why is a conversion copywriter so opinionated on the topic of brand positioning?

As a copywriter, I see fuzzy positioning at the core of conversion problems every day. The perfect headline, call to action, email, ad… we can’t write any of those persuasively unless we know exactly who we’re talking to.

And our clients won’t see results if they vacillate around the question of who they’re for. If that target changes too often… if we allow ourselves to be pulled in all directions by data from a broader group, the tests simply aren’t valid tests.

That’s why the question we’re obsessed with around here is how our clients can be different and better to a very specific audience.

About Anna Bolton

Anna is the founder and Copy Chief at Conversion Copy Co. She's an experienced conversion copywriter and brand messaging strategist who has worked with B2B and B2C brands internationally. To talk to Anna about a conversion copywriting project, book a meeting through the Contact page.

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“From research to writing to retrospectives, Anna is an absolute pro to work with. Her copy is great. And working with her is a dream - especially if hitting deadlines and producing fab work matters to you.”

- Joanna Wiebe, Founder, Copyhackers

"We hired Anna for a day of consulting on our pitch deck to raise series A funding from top-tier investors for our AI chip. I'm happy to say her strategies and feedback were instrumental in raising a US $20M funding round. Plus, we took away conversion techniques we'll apply to all of our sales, including…

- Darrick Wiebe, CTO, Untether AI

"Neovora markets digital products and productized services to local businesses across the US. Anna worked with us to create and optimize all the copy in our funnels, from ads and lead magnets to sales pages, webinars and email marketing. She knows a lot about the art and science of online marketing and it came through…

- JR East, Neovora.com

"Anna has an innate ability to understand what we are trying to say and succinctly put those ideas into written format. Timely in her reply and enthusiastic with her participation in our projects. I would l highly recommend Anna for all your written content needs."

"Oh my goodness this is seriously PERFECT!!!!! Thank you SO MUCH Anna!!!!

XOXO, Rachel"

- Rachel McMichael, Business with Impact Society

"For years, we weren’t marketing digitally. Anna put our digital presence on the map and dramatically increased online sales within the first year of launching our new site. She was instrumental in developing winning positioning and the copy we now use everywhere."

- CEO, Natural Calm Canada

"It’s rare to find a copywriter who is both results and customer-driven. Anna is a dedicated, passionate, smart and talented writer. If you want your website to speak to your customers and convert them you should hire her yesterday."

- Talia Wolf, GetUplift

I was struggling to find words that were true to my brand AND which would resonate with my market. Anna helped me find the balance. By the end of the project, I had a "DNA" foundation with 50+ phrases that struck a chord with my market. Most important - they were tailored to where my…

- Tim Berthold, Sunny's Goldens

Anna was incredible to work with, very pro in her copy DNA process and ‘weaponized’ us with the messaging our organization needed.

- James Woller, International Executive Director, Thrive

Anna’s landing page copy has consistently brought in 40% of our firm revenues for a staff of 40+ FTEs over the past two years. These conversions have been worth 8 figures, multiple times over.

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